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Gmail 2FA causes the homeless to permanently lose access 3 times a year

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Re: Gmail 2FA causes the homeless to permanently lose access 3 times a year

#311

Post by alpentmil »

aliqot wrote: post #300
mihaaly wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I took three steps against this happening: 1) Not providing phone number for 2FA. Never. 2) Using multiple (3 pcs.) physical keys for 2FA (like Yubikey and similar). Authentication app is an alternative for one choice of 2FA (but not the sole one!) 3) Only using a limited set of Google functionality. Use for secondary purposes mostly. Well, the last one is mainly to mitigate the consequences if happens anyway, for ot…

I took one step: 1) Don't use anything Google.

Please tell this to all homeless people.

Re: Gmail 2FA causes the homeless to permanently lose access 3 times a year

#312

Post by ynbl_ »

angry_octet wrote: post #19

This problem, and the not-my-problem responses, really highlight the self centered mindset we have encouraged. What if that homeless person was your substance-abusing sibling? A friend from school with mental health issues? We need to collectively take more responsibility for those in the worst situations. If you've every tried to teach an old person how to use 2FA you know it's an uphill battle. Using a fingerprint…

> Practically, we need ideas like to 2FA to gain tractionas widely as possible, while realising that isn't everywhere.

thats just one opinion on security. you see this world where google is an identity provider, and you prove your identity to it via a librarian or bank. i dont. an internet service should absolutely never require any form of government id nor separate network like cell.

Re: Gmail 2FA causes the homeless to permanently lose access 3 times a year

#313

Post by alpentmil »

l72 wrote: post #184

Every single American should be able to get a free, permanent email account through our Postal Service! We shouldn't have to rely on Gmail for what may be the only way to get information/apply for on basic government services!

This. The provider/USPS will then realise how challenging it is to do verify identity.

Re: Gmail 2FA causes the homeless to permanently lose access 3 times a year

#315

Post by whoooooo123 »

arbuge wrote: post #181

You lose your entire Google account if you lose your 2FA device or number (assuming it's a phone number), for any reason. Even if your Google account is set up with a non-Google email address which you still have access to, and you still know the correct password. And there's nobody you can reach at Google about it, no appeals process, nothing. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33098261

One of the many reasons why I switched from GMail to Fastmail.

Re: Gmail 2FA causes the homeless to permanently lose access 3 times a year

#317

Post by [deleted] »

zdragnar wrote: post #216
peatmoss wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Actually giving homes to the homeless would probably be cheaper than whatever we are doing now, even taking into account the mental illness and drug-abuse problems that factor into this. This point is worth reiterating. Homelessness can be solved by providing housing. Yes, homelessness is a complex multi-faceted problem, but the first order solution to the problem is to provide housing. Homelessness is a problem wi…

Some homeless people don't want to deal with the maintenance of a home. Some homeless people aren't capable of the maintenance of a home due to mental or physical issues. Some homeless people refuse to accept help for mental issues for fear of being trapped in a psych ward. Simply put, you need to split homelessness into temporary and chronic populations. For the temporary group, homelessness is the problem. For the…

[deleted]

Re: Gmail 2FA causes the homeless to permanently lose access 3 times a year

#318

Post by etchalon »

foobarian wrote: post #288
peatmoss wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Actually giving homes to the homeless would probably be cheaper than whatever we are doing now, even taking into account the mental illness and drug-abuse problems that factor into this. This point is worth reiterating. Homelessness can be solved by providing housing. Yes, homelessness is a complex multi-faceted problem, but the first order solution to the problem is to provide housing. Homelessness is a problem wi…

> Homelessness can be solved by providing housing. They used to be called asylums, and the problem is what to do if the homeless person refuses to go. I wonder why you don't hear about homelessness in totalitarian states...

Because totalitarian states don't talk about them?

Re: Gmail 2FA causes the homeless to permanently lose access 3 times a year

#319

Post by sph »

judge2020 wrote: post #242
sph wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So the choice is for them to permanently lose access to their email? Homeless people aren't stupid and strong password don't have to be incredibly hard to remember. I'd rather get my accounts hacked because of password reuse than lose access to my email, forever. There is literally nothing more important than your email. Even stuff like your bank account has secondary means of recovery, whereas if you lose access to…

Who's to say that your email account getting hacked is less dire than losing access to it? Attackers can easily search your inbox for 'verify your email', visit any website of value, and use their access to change the account away from your email to an address that they own, effectively removing your access to your third-party website accounts entirely.

Because you can still use an account everybody knows the password of.

It's a terrible place to be in, but isn't nowhere as bad as being a homeless person with no access to HN and Twitter, having Google delete your account and nowhere to complain about. Because that is even worse.

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